When the inspiration came to write a message on Stewardship I did a little research. I found that most people's definition of Stewardship was different than what is described in the bible. Being a Good Steward with what God has given you is what the Christian will be judged on in the end.

Jesus said in Matthew 25:21 "His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter into the joy of the Lord."

When Jesus returns will he find that you have been faithful with what he has given to you? If he finds that you have taken what he has blessed you with and profited the Kingdom of God then there will be an abundant reward for you. How you have managed His work, which he has made you responsible for is vitally important to your future rewards. When God puts a man in charge of his business and he mismanages it without profit then God will take away what little he has, the bible says and give it to him that has been faithful. Verse 30 goes on to say there is a penalty for abusing the responsibilities, which God has issued to you. "And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

No competitive corporation can afford to let an asset as valuable as information go unmanaged. Good record management makes good business sense. An asset only has value if it is there when you need it, working for you, propelling you forward.

God runs his Kingdom as a corporation. His business is as important to him as a man on Wall Street is to him. God appoints different people to govern and manage certain affairs and he expects the best from those he has working for him.

John 9:4 "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."

It is important to sow seed while it is possible to do so. If we listen intently God is always instructing us and speaking to us. He provides the wisdom and counsel so that we are able to go about his business and succeed in what he has called us to do.

1 Corinthians 4:2 "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." Those who are chosen of God have been placed in administrative positions. The man or women of God has been placed in a position of importance and authority because the previously hidden, but now fully revealed mysteries of God have been introduced to them by the Holy Spirit.

God is the boss and he is whom we are to listen to when making decisions concerning God's work.

Even our time is something that we should be Good Stewards over. We should all use our time wisely because time is a gift of God that most people take for granted. Some value money, some value power but time is something that we do not have a lot of. God will one day ask each of us why we didn't take more time to do those things he required of us. What will be our reply? "I was too busy with something else." What is more important… time for God or time for ourselves?

John the Baptist understood the importance of Christ's work when he said in John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease."

When working for God a person works under the family name. It is a family business and everyone works under this name. Ephesians 3:14-15 "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth in named."

This name is a name of authority and recognized by all principalities and powers.

God blesses people in many different way and hands out a certain degree of responsibility to each believer. As a member in the body of Christ we all have assigned positions and jobs to oversee (1 Corinthians chapter 12 illustrates this inner working of Christ's body).

Often when people are put in positions of authority they become high-minded, seeking their own goals and thinking themselves as someone of importance. We are only important, as God is able to use us for his purpose. 1 Corinthians 6:20 "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's (Ephesians 6:7).

Whether all believers want to accept it or not, we all have been commanded of God to minister. 1 Peter 4:10 "As every man has received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

The affairs that we attend daily should be built on a godly foundation. This is the work that is establish by the Lord and only with his commission will it stand. Luke 12:48 "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." Seeing that God is expecting great things out of his children we should only build our work according to his direction and on the foundation of the Word of God where Christ is the Cornerstone.

God owns everything. Psalms 24:1 "The earth is the Lords, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Psalms 50:10 "For every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle on a thousand hills." Haggai 2:8 says that the gold and silver is God's, and Ezekiel 18:4 says that all the souls are his.

This means that God will get the final say in all things because all things belong to him. Romans 14:8 "For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's."

What God has given to us and placed us in charge of we are accountable to him for the welfare and security of what belongs to him. No body is to blame for failure except for us. Job 19:4 "And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself."

It is important that we do not get ahead of God and think that our treasures should be rewarded to us here on earth. What treasures will we have in heaven if we waste what God has so graciously given us? 1 Timothy 6:7-8 "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content."

It is important especially for the churches and its ministers to be good managers. Many ministers today believe that if they are not preaching in huge churches or if they are not on television then they are failing in their duties. Many preach prosperity until they are in the poor house. All God ask is that people take care of what he has given them. God will be the one who blesses and increases the work not the steward, which God has placed there as an overseer.

Verse 9 "But they that be rich will fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. Verse 10 says, "For the love of money is the root of all evil." Churches many times have been blessed with a great many things. They have prospered and have become fat in wealth. God will bless both spiritual and materialistically his people. But no matter how we are blessed we have a responsibility to invest this wealth back into the Kingdom of God. If we follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness, fighting the good fight of faith then God will give us proper instructions when our storehouses are full of his blessings.

God's instruction and wisdom must be sought after if we are to know what to do when God does pour out of his Spirit upon his people.

James 5:1-4 "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries, that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth."

When the church becomes selfish with God's business, when they become gluttonous then sin when bring forth destruction. This verse can be applied in anyone's life. From the biggest thing to the smallest God will not honor a person or a people who are not honoring him.

The church has often become so busy in building the church or even recreation that they have forgotten their first love, their calling and whom it is they originally had set out to serve. This happens in our daily life also. We become so wrapped up or involved with the affairs of the world that we become absent minded to God's presence and our ears grow deaf to his voice.

A Good Steward is always seeking to do God's will. Psalms 62:10 "Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them." As God blesses you during your work for him be thankful but also remember where blessings come. Also it is important to note that we do not deserve anything of God and it is only by his grace that we receive anything in the first place.

Even Jesus noted the guilt of the rich in Matthew 4:19 "And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful."

Matthew 19:23 "Verily I say unto you, That a rich man will hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."

So in concluding this lesson on Stewardship we need to keep certain things in mind. First that God has commissioned each born again believer into the ministry to do service unto him. Secondly that we are responsible for all that God has given to us to govern. Thirdly that we have full authority under the name of Jesus Christ to perform the will of God and fulfill his purpose and calling in our lives. Fourthly that one day we will have an time of auditing where we will have to give an account of every penny, nickel, dime quarter and dollar which God has pout into our truth. Fifthly, if God has given you a lot of substance then you are accountable for all of it. We are to be faithful in that which God has entrusted us over. Sixth, if we are not dependable, or if we have mismanaged God's business then we will be found guilty and tried as one who has robbed God.

From the greatest to the least God sees all that goes on in the world. He never forgets whom he has assigned to certain task.

To the pastors of the church, the shepherds of the flock, all that are in authority under the name of Jesus Christ, this closing scripture is given that you not fall into temptation and that you will not take advantage of the blessings that God has granted to you.

Isaiah 56: 9-12 "All ye beast of the field, come to devour, yea,

all ye beast of the forest. His watchmen are blind:

they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark;

sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough,

and they are shepherds that cannot understand:

they all look to their own way, everyone for his gain, from his quarter.

Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink;

and tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant."

"Stewardship sustains the life and work of the church. "

In Christ Jesus,

Dale Thompson